Etymologically
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firmarius

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Forms

firmārius m (genitive firmāriī or firmārī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin firma (“fixed payment, lease”) + -ārius.[2][3][4] The MLW compares French fermier.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source for the noun, which he glosses as a lessee or tax farmer, is the Domesday Book of 1086.[3]

Semantic evolution

In Medieval Latin the word named someone who held land or revenues on lease for a fixed payment: a tenant for a term,[2] a farmer of rents or taxes,[5] or the man who collected the rent.[5] It also meant an agent or administrator,[2] and a vicar who served a parish for a fixed salary.[5]

Through Anglo-French and Old French it gave English farmer, first “one who collects taxes” in the late 14th century; the agricultural sense came in the 1590s.[4]

Timeline

  • 1086 – The Domesday Book has the noun.[3]
  • 1198–1216 – The register of Innocent III uses it of tenants of land let at farm.[2][3]
  • 1250 – A charter of Liège uses it of an official collecting tolls.[2]
  • late 14th century – English farmer is recorded, from Old French.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (Medieval Latin) A tenant holding land for a term, a lessee.[2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin) One who farms rents or taxes.[5][3]
  3. (Medieval Latin) A rent collector.[5]
  4. (Medieval Latin) An agent, administrator.[2]
  5. (Medieval Latin) A vicar serving a parish for a fixed salary.[5]

Usage notes

Niermeyer also lists firmarius as a form of infirmarius.[5] The DMLBS records a feminine firmaria, a prison.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  6. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press